From her iconic feud with Divina de Campo to Jinkx Monsoon’s exhilarating lip-sync smackdown with Detox, The Vivienne is revealing her all-time favourite moments on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The world’s number-one Donald Trump impersonator, who memorably won the first season of the British spin-off, ruturned to the franchise on 20 May for the seventh season of All Stars – aka the first ever winners’ season. In just two episodes, Viv has reminded audiences why she became the UK’s inaugural (drag) superstar with her quintessential British sense-of-humour and wit and impeccable impersonation skills (her Nan deserves more praise!). In celebration of the most ambitious crossover event in herstory (Avengers: Endgame was easier to achieve, let’s be honest), we spoke with The Vivienne about her all-time favourite Drag Race moments including lip-syncs, eliminations and confrontations, as well as her thoughts on the current state of Drag Race UK.
All Stars 2, need she say more?
“All Stars 2 as a whole, that was the first time we got a talent show. We got to see what the queens do outside of Drag Race, what they can do with a production. We got to see Alaska singing that song with her nails and the introduction of the talent show which is now a Drag Race staple for All Stars. It’s coming into normal seasons outside of the US too. You now get to see from episode one what the queens can do and fall in love with them more. If you do a talent show on episode one you almost say, ‘Fuck she is so good, I don’t care if she can sew or not.'”
The domination of Bianca Del Rio
“Bianca Del Rio, the fact she was cast meant we got to see a queen that wasn’t heavily look based, but slayed the season in the same dress but a different colour every time! We got to see that drag isn’t just about being a look or a model. We also got a great Snatch Game with “Baloney!””
Drag Race UK, finally!
“Season one of UK was such a breath of fresh air of what British drag is. We got to see that that it’s not all about a look. It was so quintessentially British. I would love to see the British season go back to that, I think it’s become a bit Americanised in production. We want to see British drag on Drag Race.”
“A red wig and a silver dress? I don’t think”
“I can’t not say the red wig and silver dress moment! That was fun. I kind of wish it never happened, Divina [De Campo] and I haven’t spoken in a while. I turned 30 and I don’t want that anymore, I hope one day we can be friends again because we had been friends for years. Still, it was a fabulous telly moment. I wish Divina all the best.”
Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese’s iconic rivalry
“Alyssa and Coco will always be one of my favourites. Alyssa’s face when Coco walks in and the, “Girl, look how orange you fucking look!” All of that. That’s one of my favourite moments ever. I think it was such a great window into drag, the drag you don’t see on stage.”
“I don’t wanna see any fucking H&M!”
“H&M, I love that moment. I think anytime Ru gets like Tyra Banks or cries and stops crying and moves on is great.”
Jinkx Monsoon vs Detox – Malambo No 5
“Jinkx and Detox’s lip-sync was great. Anytime there is something really camp in a lip-sync, I love it. Jinkx set the precedent for not death-dropping, spinning and splitting, she proved you could just stand there and give a great lip-sync.”
Manila Luzon, Jimbo and Pangina Heals’ shock eliminations
“Manila getting sent home was a gag. Again, that set a precedent of, ‘Oh my god, what if I send the biggest competition home?’ We saw that again in UK vs the World, twice with Pangina and Jimbo. Blu [Hydrangea] is the shadiest little bitch you’ll ever meet, but in the best possible way. The shadiest, horniest, filthiest bitch. I love Blu because you look at her and she is this little twinky innocent child with an absolute potty mouth, and then she goes and sends Pangina Heals home. My god, she’s ruthless! But, you have to put yourself in that position because there was a whole single with Ru on the line, a whole single, a whole RuPeter badge!”
Drag Race is finally feeling the trantasy!
“Another iconic moment would be getting our trans contestants on, people like Gotmik, Vanessa Van Cartier and Kylie Sonique Love winning All Stars. There was the whole conversation about when we will our trans contestants on, and now it’s the norm, thank god! Look at season 14, we had a trans winner and four trans queens. This just opens the door for other entertainers. We had the first straight contestant on there, Victoria Scone too, who is an amazing drag artist. Maybe we will see a drag king soon.”
Alaska and Jinkx Monsoon’s legendary Snatch Games
“My favourite Snatch Game is between Alaska as Mae West and Jinkx as Little Edie. Jinkx, again, opened the door for us not knowing who the Snatch Game character is but making it so funny. Little Edie shocked everyone and became one of the best Snatch Games of all time.”
“Eggs, eggs, eggs!”
“The John Waters challenge is the one I quote the most. Ginger Minj singing about eggs is whatever I do when I order breakfast or when I’m shopping!”
“Me? I give better head than all the queens here”
“I love it during the acting challenges where someone is given a direction and it takes about 10 more takes, and the judges start screaming with laughter. Gothy’s line where we had to be headless for the photoshoot and Ru just stands there screaming laughing in her face. She stands there and says, ‘Shall we do that again?’ and does it in the exact same way, and Ru screams again.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 7 is now available to watch in the UK exclusively on the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus. Subscribe now via https://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/
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